Shrouding the Heavens: The Ultimate Daoist Venerable

Chapter 191 The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Earth Immortal Technique

Liang Yu and the others entered the Hall of Longevity, sat facing each other, and began to discuss the methods of becoming an immortal as taught by the Celestial Venerable of Longevity. Of course, they also explored other methods of becoming immortal, in order to draw inferences from one instance to another.

Previously, the Eternal Celestial Venerable had not only severed himself, but his cultivation level was also not high enough, and his understanding of the methods to become an immortal was not deep enough. Therefore, he was actually unable to participate in the discussions among these individuals. However, during his exploration of the methods of becoming an Earth Immortal, the Eternal Celestial Venerable's cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds, and he was now a pioneer of this alternative method of immortality. Therefore, he could now naturally engage in in-depth discussions with Liang Yu, the Underworld Venerable, and the Primordial Celestial Venerable, jointly researching the path to immortality.

However, this also raises the bar for the Nine Celestial Venerables in our mythology. The five Celestial Venerables – the Tribulation-Crossing Venerable (Netherworld Venerable), the Moral Venerable, the Spiritual Treasure Venerable, the Limitless Venerable, and the Primordial Venerable – have all made significant strides in their studies on the path to immortality in the mortal realm, and have a strong chance of truly becoming immortals in the future. Now, the Longevity Venerable has taken it a step further, embarking on an alternative path to immortality – the Earthly Immortal.

Although the remaining Boundless Heavenly Venerable is dead, his successor, Boundless Dao Stele, has the potential to develop an alternative path to immortality by combining the Primordial Spirit with the Dao Weapon and his own unique characteristics.

The Celestial Venerable of Nirvana had long been planning a cycle of annihilation and rebirth, intending to make a final, desperate attempt to ascend to immortality. With the reincarnation plan in place, he was essentially given wings. This process of rebirth amidst annihilation perfectly aligned with his Dao, meaning the Celestial Venerable of Nirvana would naturally become the greatest beneficiary of the reincarnation plan, achieving greater results than others and surpassing his past self.

Therefore, Liang Yu was unsure whether the Celestial Venerable of Nirvana should serve as a whetstone for future generations of outstanding individuals, and planned to decide based on the results he achieved after reincarnation. However, regardless of the outcome, the Celestial Venerable of Nirvana after his reincarnation would undoubtedly reach an even higher level.

After the ascension plan, even if the Celestial Venerable of Annihilation cannot become an immortal in the strange world, he is almost certain to succeed in the Immortal Realm.

Although the Carefree Celestial Venerable did not want to participate in the reincarnation plan, if he were to ascend to a strange world, or even enter the Immortal Realm, it wouldn't be impossible for him to repair the Immortal Platform and advance further over the long years. After all, the Carefree Celestial Venerable's laws of time were already far stronger than before, and his cultivation was much more profound. If it weren't for the damage caused by his self-severing that limited his progress, he could have already undergone a transformation, becoming a completely new time-based physique.

Therefore, under Liang Yu's influence, the Nine Heavenly Venerables might truly remain eternally great. Of course, that's a story for another time.

During the discussions among Liang Yu, Changsheng Tianzun, Yuanshi Tianzun, and Mingzun, they gradually began to refine and summarize the methods of becoming an Earth Immortal, identifying both its advantages and limitations. They even successfully delineated the key nodes and stages in the process of transforming into an Earth Immortal.

The restrictions on the Earth Immortal method are actually very numerous, meaning that the prerequisites for embarking on this path are extremely stringent.

The first and most crucial point is that you need a special location. Otherwise, even the most skilled cook can't make a meal without ingredients.

This condition is already extremely demanding. Even among these forbidden zones of life, a considerable number are not considered extraordinary places and do not meet the standard. So how many extraordinary places are there in the universe?
After all, places like the Primordial Ancient Mine, Immortal Tomb, Netherworld, and the Upper Heaven are considered very special even within forbidden zones, and thus are considered extraordinary places. Places like the Divine Ruins and Heavenly River Divine Realm that Liang Yu destroyed before, and even many forbidden zones that he hasn't destroyed yet, are not this type of extraordinary place and cannot serve as necessary locations for the Earth Immortal Method.

However, speaking of which, Xuanqiong Divine Mountain was also such a wondrous place, but it had been completely decomposed and integrated into Wuji Immortal Mountain by Liang Yu, and was utterly destroyed.

Of course, Kunlun Immortal Mountain was also such a wondrous place, and under the methods of Liang Yu and the Underworld Lord, it was divided into three, becoming three wondrous places. In this way, although Liang Yu destroyed one, he created two more, so they actually gained a wondrous place by virtue of one.

Even so, the number of Earthly Immortals that can be born in this universe is probably no more than ten. After all, you simply can't find that many extraordinary places.

The second prerequisite is that you must be able to obtain or decipher the obscure and difficult-to-understand laws within these wondrous places. For example, the Netherworld Scripture obtained from the Netherworld Land, the Primordial Immortal Scripture obtained from the Primordial Ancient Mine, and the Ancient Burial Scripture of Immortals obtained from the Immortal Tomb were all written by Liang Yu and the Netherworld Lord, two masters of Source Arts, who used Source Arts to decipher the terrain and the laws within it, transforming them into ancient scriptures that normal cultivators could understand.

Even if you gave other people a wondrous place, they would still find it difficult to unravel its mysteries and create such an ancient scripture. Most cultivators wouldn't even know how to begin.

Of course, now that the universe has recognized this, the methods of the Earth Immortals have become a path that the universe will soon support. Therefore, the mysteries of these extraordinary places will become more apparent and easier to comprehend, unlike before when one had to use source techniques to manipulate their laws to find a breakthrough. But even so, the difficulty of successfully deciphering them remains extremely high.

Furthermore, it also depends on your compatibility with these extraordinary places. After all, the Carefree Celestial Venerable was unable to fully cultivate the Primordial Immortal Scripture because he was not compatible with the Primordial Ancient Mine. On the other hand, the Longevity Celestial Venerable had almost maximum compatibility with the Burial Immortal Ancient Scripture, so he cultivated this scripture very quickly.

So, there's actually an implicit condition: you have to be the right person.

The third prerequisite is that one must begin as a Daoist to embark on this path. This is much more normal, since only by attaining the Dao can one become an immortal. Although Earthly Immortals are special, they are still immortals. To succeed without attaining the Dao is truly a pipe dream. Other methods of becoming an immortal are similar.

Of course, although the conditions are harsh, the method of becoming an Earth Immortal still has one major advantage: immortality. If you follow the path of Earth Immortal, from the moment you merge into the wondrous land, you have already achieved a different kind of immortality.

The Path to Immortality in the Mortal World only leads to true immortality when one is no longer affected by the ravages of time. In other words, even if your strength surpasses that of a true immortal in the latter half of the Path to Immortality, you still cannot achieve eternal life. The Earth Immortal Method, however, makes achieving immortality significantly simpler; it doesn't require reaching the strength of a true immortal to attain immortality.

However, there is no perfect method in this world, and the methods of the Earth Immortals naturally have their flaws.

The biggest limitation of the Earth Immortal's method is the loss of a certain degree of freedom.

After merging with the wondrous realm and establishing a connection with the origin of the universe, you become a part of the human universe and can no longer leave it.

Furthermore, your physical body has already merged into the Wonderland, becoming the Wonderland itself. Therefore, if you want to move, you can only travel through the universe along with the Wonderland. Even your main consciousness cannot leave the Wonderland you have become.

Furthermore, during your own cultivation process, the universe will take a portion of the immortal divinity from the wondrous land to repair itself. Although this will reduce your cultivation efficiency, if the universe upgrades, you will also benefit from it. Whether this is a disadvantage is a matter of opinion.

In short, the methods of becoming an earth immortal also have their gains and losses.

(End of this chapter)